A day after former NDA partners BJP and Janata Dal (United) exchanged expletives and almost wrestled in the Bihar Legislative Council, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi described JD(U) President Sharad Yadav as his “political guru”.

“I respect Sharad Yadav as my political guru,” Sushil said while speaking in the Legislative Council on Friday.

Sharad Yadav, on his part, maintained that nothing much needs to be read into Sushil Modi’s fulsome praise. “We were part of an alliance and maintained good relations. But routine political courtesies should not be perceived as a reflection of future alignments,” he told BusinessLine when asked if the comments are the sign of a thaw in the BJP-JD(U) relationship.

It is, however, a fact that Sharad had played an important role in elevating Sushil to the office of Deputy CM.

The JD(U) chief was then convener of NDA at the national level and before Sushil was appointed Deputy CM, he was a Member of Parliament. Yadav had reportedly convinced BJP leaders that Sushil Modi is the right choice as Nitish Kumar’s deputy in the Bihar Government.